


여명

by cenji



Category: Golden Child (Korea Band)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-24 13:58:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13215228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cenji/pseuds/cenji
Summary: BaeJangTag have a dog to look after.





	여명

The benefits to having Son Youngtaek as your best friend are few. Now, to be fair, Youngtaek _is_ Seungmin's best friend and he would defend him in a heartbeat (usually) and go to the ends of the Earth for him (maybe). Nevertheless, the Reasons Youngtaek is a Great Friend list is paltry in comparison to the Reasons Youngtaek is Satan list. And these lists do exist. Oh yes. Not in concrete terms, because then Youngtaek and/or Jangjun would find them and use them against him. But Seungmin knows. Seungmin remembers. 

On this particular Saturday morning, the disadvantages are numerous and mounting. Jangjun stayed over last night. (That's already a disadvantage because Youngtaek feeds off his energy whereas Seungmin, at some point, begins to be worn down by it). The reason he stayed over is because he's dog-sitting for his hyung and wanted to bring Mariyan to play. Whether or not this is an advantage or disadvantage to having those two as friends is a matter over which Seungmin is still debating. On the one hand, Mariyan is an adorable border collie mix, black all over apart from her white socks and a splash across the left side of her snout and chest. She has fluffy, tufty, constantly moving ears and an impressive brush of a tail. She's small and wiry and fell asleep with her chin on Seungmin's lap. On the other hand, she peed on his favourite sneakers. In any case, although they all slept late, Youngtaek's internal clock had woken him up at 6am. He was considerate enough to decide that he should go out for breakfast rather than clattering around in their poky kitchen. Unfortunately, his sleepy brain didn't think to check that Mariyan was still safely on her bed before opening the front door. The moment she heard it creak, she darted around his ankles and was gone, the sound of her tiny paws skittering down the stairs growing fainter as Youngtaek gawped. Thus, Seungmin began his weekend at 06:15, with his best friend in the whole world violently poking him and whispering incoherently about how Jangjun was going to beat the living snot out of him, and how Mariyan is a fine young lady who shouldn't be alone in the world, and 'if I die, please tell Jaeseok-hyung he was pretty alright'. Also, 'Wake the hell up before I blame everything on you!' Seungmin woke up. He's been regretting the decision ever since. 

They've followed Youngtaek's instincts all around the area of their dorms. They've squeezed through the narrow, dank gap between the neighbouring building and the laundrette - getting odd looks when they emerged from the owner, who was just sweeping around the entrance before opening up. They've given Mariyan's description to every security guard in every building and badgered them all about if they're completely and totally, one hundred percent definitely certain that they haven't seen such a majestic girl in the neighbourhood. They would have irritated the guards less if Youngtaek hadn't concluded his manic interrogations by blithely telling them not to worry because 'it's totally no big deal, she'll be on her way home soon, for sure'. He's nervous that one of the guards might mention something in the future, should they happen to spot Mariyan. They might mention something in the presence of Jangjun. In his desperation, Youngtaek has been growing increasingly convinced that their other best friend is going to slaughter him in ever more blood curdling scenarios. There's plenty Seungmin could say to that. For mere example, he could say that Youngtaek is Jangjun-hyung's Number One Bro and, if Youngtaek died, Jangjun would be inconsolable, even if he were the one who personally ripped out Youngtaek's liver and gave it to Jaeseok-hyung to make a stew with - the latest scenario. He doesn't though. Firstly, because Youngtaek's barely listening to him anymore. Secondly, because Jangjun honestly will hold this against Youngtaek for days should he get wind of it. All assuming they even manage to find Mariyan and bring her back at all. 

Continuing to following Youngtaek's extremely questionable instincts, they've made their way to a park behind the dorms. It's not much of a park. There is a gravel path, there are a couple of lonlely benches, and there is a lot of scrubby grass, yellowish in the grey dawn light. The path runs part-way up a hill over-looking a running track. Dotting the hill are some lines of dense, half-wild shrubs with woody branches like claws. Youngtaek's been pacing around, poking them, hoping for some kind of sign, some Mariyan-like rustling. Seungmin's waiting for him to either give up in despair or decide his instincts are pointing them in some new direction. But where else can they go? Beyond the track, there's a residential area much like their own. On the other side, there's the back end of the shopping centre's car park. Then there's a busy road and the beginning of the college grounds. None of these seem likely options. 

Anyway, while Youngtaek convinces himself it's still worth checking the bushes, Seungmin is left standing on the grass feeling useless. The damp is soaking through his old sneakers - the ones Mariyan didn't pee on - and into his socks. The zip on his padded coat doesn't work right, so parts of him are cozy but his chest feels like it's forming icicles. He hasn't eaten yet. He's inevitably - he figures - going to be spending excessive amounts of money on fast food to help his best friend beg forgiveness from his other best friend. On top of all that, the sky is a field of gun metal grey, banks of clouds bearing down on them and obstructing the winter sun. Seungmin has a premonition of them both being rained on. 

He lifts his head and gazes off towards the road. There's quite a distance and several obstacles between here and there. So he doesn't really think she'll be over there... However, Mariyan is small, fast and wily (like him, except for the last one and also except for how she's a beautiful specimen of dog-hood and he's just a short bloke with a face that's handsome from some angles and in the right light). He's wondering how to go about raising this possibility with his - currently rather emotionally delicate - friend, when his eyes catch sight of something. A person is down on the track. They're wearing a light running jacket in black, matching shorts, and neon orange trainers. Despite the weather, Seungmin is chilly enough that warming up by taking off at a run doesn't seem like a bad idea. That person getting their morning jog probably wouldn't appreciate Seungmin joining though. They've got form. They look sleek and relaxed, powering forward on strong legs. Seungmin's running is more of a frantic dash during which his arms do things he knows nothing about. He and Youngtaek used to often jog together, until that one time Seungmin accidentally whacked him in the face, giving him a nosebleed and a lumpy bruise. Nowadays, Seungmin restricts his exercising to the college gym. 

Before Seungmin can get too carried away by his thoughts, the runner rounds a bend, coming closer to where the two boys are hanging around alone in a desolate park at 7am, poking shrubbery. Seungmin finally spots something. A fluffy something, trotting along contentedly a little behind the runner, glorious black tail in the air. 

"Ah! Mariyan!"

He races down the hill. A wordless shout resounds and he hears Youngtaek's big feet pounding after him. His friend quickly overtakes him, possessing much longer legs as he does. As Youngtaek is zipping past him, Seungmin makes a wrong step on the dew-sodden grass. He slips, careering down the hill. Whilst flailing for some kind of purchase, he manages to tear his hands up on one of those bushes. A stone rips his padded coat. He winds up at the bottom of the hill, staring up at the grey sky, wet, bruised, shivering with cold, and with grass and stray leaves clinging to him everywhere - his hair, his jeans, up his nose, _everywhere_.

On hearing their yelling, Mariyan had bounded over to Youngtaek and is now giving his legs a probing sniff. Her tail is batting away faster than the human eye can see. She appears to consider it a joyful happenstance that two of the nice oppas she passed the night with came to play at the same place where she'd just met this other nice oppa. Seungmin, happy as he is to have found her, does not think it's joyful. He grimaces as he sits up, feeling how the dampness has soaked through to his skin. His head hurts. He chews over whether this means he banged it on something or whether it's just the quotidian pain of being Bae Seungmin causing the throbbing ache in his skull. Perhaps both. 

A hand is waved in front of his face. Seungmin grasps it and lets the runner haul him to his (shaky) feet. The runner's hand is warm and sweaty and his arms underneath the thin jacket are lean and muscular. When Seungmin stops grimacing and looks at him, he turns out to also be the owner of a very nice face. It's the kind of face where this guy can likely just casually take one selca and post it, rather than spending half an hour choosing amongst dozens of photos and painstakingly selecting the optimal filter. Seungmin's hunger and pain-addled mind is fascinated enough to momentarily forget how disastrously embarrassed he is. 

"Thanks," he says. In fact, it comes out as a sort of frog-croak and Seungmin rapidly remembers how embarrassed he is and how Life is Pain. 

"No problem." The runner smiles, a flash of shiny white teeth. Seungmin fancies the guy looks somewhat unnerved. Seungmin doesn't blame him. The neighbourhood weirdo's relatively normal friend just literally crash landed at his feet and won't stop staring... Oh right. He _should_ stop that. He clears his throat and glances away to where Youngtaek is crouching down to hug Mariyan and give her a once over for injuries or ticks or anything else she might have picked up on her jaunt. 

"You sure you're OK? That was quite a fall." The runner places his hand on Seungmin's shoulder. Said boy jerks up, alarmed for uncertain reasons. He peers up into the guy's soft, brown, concerned eyes. For one crazy moment, Seungmin guesses that what he'd termed unease, was really just honest, heartfelt concern from an attractive stranger to a regular stranger. That moment is washed away on the tide of Seungmin's innate pessimism. He tries to brush any worries this person might be holding away with a laugh that emerges as the most awkward giggle in the history of man. 

"I'm fine, really. This is nothing. I'm peachy. Hey, Youngtaek-ah! We should get going. We've been a long time already."

Youngtaek has stood up, gathering Mariyan into his arms since they both neglected to bring her lead. He's looking at them with a contained, 'company present' sort of grin - gums not visible and a spark in his slow loris-like eyes that says just because he's not ripping the shit out of Seungmin now, doesn't mean he won't the second they've crested the hill. With a garbled 'thanks again', Seungmin sets off back up the hill. His idea to march away rapidly is hindered by how he keeps slipping due to the sodden ground and his still wobbly knees. Nevertheless, it's fast enough for Youngtaek to only coo, "Thank you, Kind Stranger!" before running after him, taking the hill like a mountain goat, Mariyan bouncing gently in his arms as she peeks curiously from the lofty heights of Youngtaek's chest. 

"Hyung'll still be asleep, right? It's not yet eight," Seungmin says once they're back on firmer ground (and the handsome runner has, hopefully, started to forget what either of them look like). 

"I guess so?" Youngtaek replies, voice only a little strained, "If not, we'll just say we took her for a walk. It's all fine."

"A walk without a lead?"

Youngtaek whines and buries his nose in the crown of Mariyan's (unconcerned) head. 

"That's better than coming back without a dog! Anyhow, are you trying to distract me?"

"From what?" Seungmin bluffs, glancing at his friend's dangerously arched eyebrow. 

"I'm only not hitting you because there's a lady present. From you looking at that dude like he was your heroic prince charming riding a dazzling white steed."

"I did nothing of the sort!" Seungmin yelps - knowing as he does that he's as good as admitted all guilt - and stomps ahead. Behind him, Yongtaek is gleefully dancing along, explaining to Mariyan how Uncle Seungmin has rediscovered a special kind of thirst. 

When they get back, Youngtaek rushes off to clean Mariyan up and get her her breakfast. Seungmin tiptoes over to the built-in linen cupboard where Jangjun slept. (He swears it's warmer and more comfortable than their sofa. Having been locked in there for twelve hours last spring, Seungmin can confirm that this is true). Their hyung's still sound asleep, the blissful slumber of the demon who is quite at peace with his satanic nature. He's curled up in a ball on a pile of sheets and towels, his denim jacket over him as a blanket. It's another half an hour or so before he wakes up, the smell of coffee, toast and Youngtaek struggling to scramble eggs finally rousing him. Seungmin finds this out when, having been peacefully sitting at the kitchen table, reading the astrologer's lies about how today would bring him 'positive opportunities', two cold, wet hands are slapped down on his shoulders. Seungmin shrieks. Jangjun cackles. 

"Hey, Seungminnie. Why are you so jumpy this early in the morning?" he wheezes out while laughing at his friend's pain. Youngtaek's not making the situation any better. He's pointing one long cooking chopstick at Seungmin clutching his heart in distress, and has flung the other arm across his face to stifle his laughter in the crook of his elbow. Youngtaek ought to know perfectly well that's the sort of thing Jangjun finds adorable and will only be encouraged by. 

"Morning, Hyung. Did you sleep well?" Seungmin groans, making a show of taking deep breaths to calm his poor heart down. If Youngtaek doesn't quit laughing right the heck now, Seungmin's going to spill everything about Mariyan's break for freedom. Except not, because Seungmin's a good friend. But he's going to think really hard about doing so. As if sensing his need for some comfort, Mariyan wanders over from the spot she'd found on the living room windowsill, puts her chin on Seungmin's knee and promptly dozes off like that. This is the second time she's done so. With that and her peeing on his sneakers, Seungmin wonders if this all makes her his girlfriend. She's very pretty, so it could be worse. 

Meanwhile, Youngtaek has requested Jangjun help him salvage the eggs. Jangjun's cooking knowlege extends further than Youngtaek's, but that's saying very little. Leaning on Youngtaek's back, arms loose around his younger friend's neck, he's directing him on which sauces and seasonings to add. Seungmin observes them - Jangjun rocking them both lightly and clearly enjoying himself and Youngtaek obediently pouring in everything Jangjun suggests. Seungmin decides that it's best to give up on the eggs. He scrapes margerine onto a cold slice of toast and munches on that while scratching Mariyan behind the ears. A couple of joyously peaceful minutes pass. 

"I've been wanting to ask," Jangjun pipes up. He's in the same position, rocking Youngtaek in his arms, but it seems like they've given up on adding things and are now simply contemplating their creation. "Why does Seungmin have grass in his hair?"

Popping the last of his toast into his mouth, Seungmin casually scrapes a hand through his hair. Several dry blades come away on his fingers. Drat, he thought he'd fixed himself up already. 

"Oh right. We took Mariyan for a walk and Seungminnie took a fall," Youngtaek explains placidly. The dog peeks up at the sound of her name. As no one is immediately offering her food, she settles back to sleep on Seungmin's knee. "A stranger rescued him," Youngtaek adds, to be horrible. 

"A stranger?" Jangjun mimics, "What kind of stranger?"

"A handsome one."

The rocking ceases. Seungmin doesn't guffaw at them only because he doesn't want to disturb the dog. 

"As in you thought he was handsome or our Seungminnie did?"

Youngtaek jerks his thumb in Seungmin's direction. The rocking recommences. 

"Tell me about this handsome stranger," Jangjun orders Seungmin, eyes flashing with amusement in a way scarily similar to Youngtaek earlier, "I have to vet him, check what sort of character he has."

"I don't know what he's implying. Anyway, it was just some guy going for a morning jog," Seungmin insists. After a moment's thought, he adds, "And that already makes his 'character' seem better than yours, Hyung."

Youngtaek snorts. Jangjun grins, too. He lets the matter drop. However, that comment is probably the reason he soon dares Seungmin to eat all the eggs/sauce/vomit-looking mess in the frying pan. Seungmin does. In part, because Youngtaek agrees to keep the living room clean and tidy for a week if he does, but mostly because Seungmin refuses to step down from a dare. Admittedly, he spends the whole afternoon with a stomachache, but also in a pleasant haze of what is as close as this dorm every comes to domestic bliss. He and his two best friends play with Mariyan, who revels in the attention and licks their faces consolingly when they ignorantly try to teach her a new trick she doesn't feel like learning. When Seungmin gets tired of playing with those three, he's left on his own, for the most part. He can relax on the sofa with a stack of comic books to read, slippers on his feet, and not needing to care when the occasional blade of grass flutters off him. The raindrops tapping the window provide a calming background noise to his day. 

Jangjun will have to take the dog back tomorrow. Later in the day, Youngtaek remarks that they ought to take her for a walk first, so she's in good spirits. Early in the morning, he suggests, maybe around that little park up the back, the one near the running track. A look passes between them, unseen by Jangjun, who Mariyan is permitting to play with her ears. Seungmin, nose in his comic book, mentally adds one more entry to the 'Youngtaek is Satan' list. Begrudgingly, he also adds a sub-entry to the 'is a Great Friend' list too.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sad no one's used the Y/Bae tag yet xD  
> Happy New Year~!!


End file.
